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Saturday, June 16, 2012

The
importance of editing is a common topic for discussion. I have
never once entered a creative writing class, or any sort of writing class, in which the teacher did not stress how
we always need more than one draft.

What
I’ve found though is that the process on how
to edit is glossed over. The criticism is given, but the professor doesn’t look
at how the author used it. We have peer edits, but no one has feedback on their
feedback. Though teachers had always said to me that I should never turn in a
first draft, I have seldom been pressed for the second. It usually takes the course
of them reading it once, giving their suggestions, and that’s the end of it.
And, for the most part, they push peer edits over personal edits, and though outside
feedback is helpful, when working independently, peer edits are hard to get.

Editing
can be overwhelming. It can be depressing, heartbreaking, headache-making, and overall
pain inducing. One of the main reasons for the emphasis on editing is that experts assume that authors aren’t going to do
it. And there’s a reason for that. It’s hard.

Though
sometimes I find revising far more relaxing than the writing process, it takes
a lot more willpower. We can ignore, for the most part, when writing something
distasteful, but it’s much harder to read it.

Here
are few suggestions to make the editing process easier and more beneficial.

1.
Understand the mental obstacles and defend against them.

Many
potential authors habitually write the first 10-30 pages and then stop. Or
worse, they delete everything they’ve made. This is extremely common and
explains the usual suggestion to not read what you’ve made, an idea I take exception to. It is not a strategy good for everyone.

Writing advice is often
autobiographical. An adviser assumes that his readers are like him. This is not
a bad assumption, necessarily, however it is important for the author to keep
it in mind because she very well may not be. When seeing suggestions for editing, it is important to consider who
the speaker thinks you are and who
you actually are.

There
are a lot of blocks that prevent people from editing or finishing, and they are
tailored to that person. Understand what the block is (you are a perfectionist
and you keep deleting everything you write) and then take precautions to stop
that from happening. (“I am not allowed to read it until I’m done.”)

Ask
what is stopping you from editing (“I’m afraid that it will be bad” or “I’m
lazy.”) Once you are aware of what the obstacle is, it is easier to mentally
overcome it.

2.
Understand goals.

Indecision
is the number one cause of stress during editing. Having a clear goal in mind
can solve a lot of uncertainty. Do I cut this scene or keep it? Is this funny
or stupid? Should I change the ending?

Everyone wants their book to be “good,” but that is pretty vague. Quality
is unpredictable and subjective, defined by “I’ll know it when I see it.”

To define how good a book is by how much the audience cares, however, is specific enough to work with. It is easier to ask yourself, “Do I care about this character?” rather than, “Is
this a good character?”There is far more gray area in quality then in loyalty.

Secondly
decisions like, “Do I want this to be a commercial success or a critical?” “How
do I want people to feel when they are reading this? Excited? Scared Thoughtful?”
“Do I want to them to laugh at this part, cry?” “Be happy when this character
dies or sad?” can direct what should happen during the scene.

These
all seem fairly obvious, but when we’re in the thick of writing, we often don’t
care how the reader feels as long as she feels something.

One
of the biggest issues is when an author doesn’t like something he wrote, but he
can’t decide if another reader may be okay with this. This mentality, extremely
common, can stop a writer from making any changes at all.

It
is okay to adjust goals or attempt for more than one thing. When a story wants
to come out funny instead of serious, trying to force it can cause problems.
The rule of thumb is, however, prioritize, don’t compromise. Decide what is
more important. If you want a critical success and a commercial success, understand which is more important and make
decisions accordingly. Splitting the difference makes no one happy.

3.
Remember the original concept.

Your story came from one moment of inspiration. It may have been just an image or
a line of dialogue, but that one piece proves the most important part of the
puzzle. It tells a writer exactly the tone and point he was going for.

We
often forget it because usually it’s a little detail. There are so many
different places inspiration comes from that it’s hard to say how we thought of
it.

However
there was one moment in which the author went, “I am going to sit down and write
that story.” Remembering
it can remind the author what he is going for, and, when he is
getting discouraged, how it is not turning out like he wanted. When he realizes
he doesn’t like what he’s writing, he can return to the inspiring concept.
Often times he’s gotten away from what he originally wanted and that is why he
doesn’t like it.

4.
The “drawer” technique and its opposite.

Stephan
King suggests using the drawer technique for all your books. It means to finish the
novel, put it in a drawer, and don’t look at it for a month.

There
are many benefits to this, the most prominent one allowing the author fresh eyes. A writer
forgets what he meant to say, meaning that he will realize what doesn’t make
sense. He won’t be so attached to the words because he didn’t just write them,
and he’ll be able to step back and look at the forest instead of just the trees.

The
problem with the drawer technique, however, is that a writer forgets what he
meant to say, meaning that he will not know how to make it make sense. Not
remembering what happens in the story makes harder to change. The author doesn’t
know how many drastic alterations he will eventually end up with, so spending
three hours on one sentence that may very well be cut seems pointless. A person
will hesitate to commit to editing, which, in turn, will make him feel like he’s
wasting his time.

My
suggestion is to make all large changes on the moment you’ve decided they need
to be made, including during the writing process. Make the second draft right
after finishing in order to have the story fresh before put the manuscript away for a while.

5.
Cringe Test and Circle Edits.

The
cringe test is a very simple technique in which the editor works by the gut.
It is exactly what it sounds like: read through it and wait until the physical cringing hits.
That is the best way to know what to change. Then, instead of fixing it
immediately, circle it and keep going. The more specific the author is about
what he doesn’t like, a sentence or even a word, the more useful this technique
is.

This
helps to get through a first draft without becoming frustrated and quitting. The
reading also flows rather than be interrupted by constant starts and stops.

The
problem, however, is that though he’s read through the book, he hasn’t
made any real changes, and he’s left the hard part for later, meaning that he’ll
have a marked up first draft and nothing to show for it. It is usually not a
good idea to procrastinate when the only deadline you have is your own
arbitrary one, especially with things that are harder than average. I would
suggest that while utilizing circle editing, you may consider going back and
fixing the circled lines at the end of each chapter instead of the end of the book.

However,
if he has forgotten the story and needs a refresher, this is the best technique
because it helps him commit to the draft and remind himself of the story before
he actually has worked on changing.

6.
The Ideas, the Events, the Text.

There
are three elements that require attention in editing that when the author is
looking to fix them, they should be done in a specific order.

The
ideas of a story are basic concepts. They are the point of the manuscript and
are tonal, not secluded to one portion of the text. It could be the premise
(Harry Potter is a student at a wizarding school), the conflict, (the evil
wizard who killed his parents is now after him), the setting (a magical version
of England), or the theme (bravery will get you further than intelligence or
lineage). (That's how I saw it, anyway.) The ideas are the hardest to change in that they
affect everything, and the author has to reread the entire story in order to find
each moment.

Therefore,
it is a good idea to focus on idea changes first. Identifying the problems with
continuity, rules of the universe, character likability, and tension is the
first step, so it can often be a good idea to ignore the events and text until
after the basic story is set up how the author wants it.

The
events are actions that take place. Though each event only happens for a
limited time, it has the possibility of affecting the rest of the story. The
characters may talk about a death long after you’ve cut it. They only went to
Mars because of the scene you blew up the moon, and now that you’ve allowed it to live, it doesn’t make any sense to go the extra distance.

These
are, of course, extremes, but the general idea is that changing what happens in
a story will often alter far more than just that scene. After getting the major
concepts of the novel how you want them, it is then important to focus on the events
before the text.

The
word choice, the syntax, the grammar, and basic sentence changes should
be the last concern because an author can find himself spending a lot of time
fixing a description of an object that the characters may never come across. It
is often best, however, to fix typos and basic errors whenever we come across
them because it’s easy, and there is a good chance that you will miss them if
you choose to wait.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

We
often hear things like “never use said,” and “always write chronologically.” We
often hear the opposite: “always use said,” and “write the ending first.” It is
likely, in fact, that if one looked hard enough, he could find every word
banished from a writer’s vocabulary by one article or another. Most writing
advice comes in an absolute, agreeing with the far end of a spectrum.

Writing
well requires balance of many different elements—many of these elements having
negative stigmas attached to them. We can’t completely dispose of adverbs, nor
would we want to. Refraining from the use of the word said, or limited to it,
only complicates matters.

Many
times, writing advice is given with the idea that the author is already on one
side of a spectrum, (using too many passive-sentences) and thus, by convincing
him to crawl towards the polar edge, he will eventually end up in the middle.

Rarely
is it correct to be on just one side or the other (though it can be), and many
times negative attributes make people believe it’s wrong to work on one side of
the scale at all. But limiting an author to certain confines can hurt him far
worse than it helps him.

1.
Ego versus Insignificance.

When
a baby is born, he believes he is the only thinking creature in the world. As
he grows, he receives empathy and understanding that there are many who think
like him. Aging causes people to begin to recognize their insignificance in the
world.

People
vary in where they stop on this scale. Some never get passed the baby stage;
psychopaths often think they are the only thinking human. Some go far above and
beyond the call of duty and understand they are just a blimp in the universe,
and some stop snuggly in the middle.

Why
it is important:

The
ego makes a person believe he is meant to do something great. That allows him
to do something great. People who understand that they are one in seven billion—not
including all of the generations of the Earth ever in time—Understand the
unlikelihood that they will ever be a Stephan King or Shakespeare.

However,
those people who truly believe in their own destiny, their own fate to be
fantastic, tend to not try. The assumption that either a) luck will led success
to me or b) all I need is one opportunity and everyone will realize that I am
talented, allows them to never write that book, never try to publish it, never
take little opportunities because there is no point.

Most
people aren’t on the polar ends, however. The average author lies somewhere
between. He will often fluctuate, and he will feel that fluctuation, often
taking it hard. Depression is often a byproduct of this understanding of insignificance.

It
is important to believe that you can do something great, but still believe that
you might fail.

2.
The Forest versus the Trees.

There
are two types of authors: details and big picture. Everyone starts out leaning
on one side of the scale. Detail people often have developed characters and
settings, big pictures often have expansive plots and events.

They
may or may not be good at what they do, but they have the tendency to write
majorly about one subject over the other. Detail people often have calm scenes
and a lot of dialogue, big pictures often have huge conflicts with little 2-D
ants of a character running around.

No
one wants to watch interesting characters do nothing, and no one wants to watch
events happening to boring characters. This is relatively obvious, I suppose.

What
is important about this is not the concept (because everyone knows this) but
for an author to understand which side he is on. If he knows that he has the
tendency to write great characters sitting around talking, then he is aware of
exactly what to work on. This is the main problem that most authors face on one
side or another, and just by overcoming their tendency to ignore the trees or
the forest, they can easily flush out their writing ability.

3.
Predictable and Unpredictable.

When
I first started making novels, I was fully aware that I should grab people’s
attention. What I did was write a scene and not explain what was going on at
all, hoping that they’d keep reading until they understood.

A
relatively good plan, except that if a person doesn’t understand what he doesn’t
understand, he’ll zone out.

Why
it is important:

Aristotle
defined tension as “doubt to outcome.” In order to have doubt, one has to have
some sort of hypothesis.

Take
for example this sentence:

“Jessica
has a secret.”

It
can play off of curiosity, but boundaries are too open. It could be anywhere from
she cheated on a test to she’s an alien.

It’s
a balance of giving out enough information to allow them to start predicting
what would happen, but keeping out enough so that they are still unsure.

“Jessica
has a secret about what happened to her father.”

This
is more interesting in that we have some guesses as to what it could be: She
murdered him, someone’s looking for him and she knows where he is, he was an
alien and went home to his planet.

This
is why in mystery novels they stick all the possible murders in the room.

4.
Reality versus Fiction.

This
is by far the hardest balance to keep. Fiction has different expectations than
reality. Fiction has different rules to follow. We assume things about a story
that we’d never assume in real life, and there are many cases in which
something truly realistic in a novel will illicit cries of “ridiculous!”

In
reality, (modern reality) we often think that it is ridiculous when a person
sacrifices her life to get married, but in fiction we don’t bat an eye when she
flings herself off a cliff for a man she met three days ago. (Well, we might,
if we actually stop to consider that it was three days ago, Juliet.)

There
are certain rules in fiction that, when broken, make up a weird story, such as
plot structure, having a resolution, having a huge character revelation, etc.
When we tell our gossip stories, however, often times there is no end, climax,
inciting event, and no one every learns their lessons.

Why
this is important?

If
an author writes something incredibly realistic, no one will believe it (truth
is stranger than fiction), but if he writes something that plays by these
fiction rules it will be, well, stupid.

A
writer can break any damn rule he wants to, it’s his book, but he must look like
he knows what he’s doing enough to make it look like he’s breaking the rule on purpose.
Otherwise, people are likely to write it off as bad writing.

5.
Self-Assessment versus Outside Advice

I
tend to believe that the majority considers outside (critical) opinions more
useful than the author’s, so, honestly, I have a backlash against this idea.

However,
this is about balance, and is probably safe to assume that balancing author
versus critic’s opinion is the best possible option.

Either
way, I’m going to explain it like this: Most people (I assume) tend to believe
that when an artist pitches a fit, it is because he is wrong, a child, and
egotistical. I argue that there is just as much likelihood that the critic is
wrong, a child, and egotistical.

Why
it is important:

The
author is the only one who knows his tastes, goals, biases, and motivations. He
is not aware of the critic’s inner thoughts. What that means is that Roger has
no idea why Shirley is telling him he has too many characters.

The
author is, however, aware of the story he was intending to tell, has a personal investment in it (which makes it
more interesting for), know more about it (which makes it less interesting for
him), and, as much as I hate the term, is too close to it to know what it looks
like to a fresh eye.

A
critic can lie, be wrong, be in a bad mood, or be uninformed.

An
author can be wrong, be in a bad mood, or be tunnel-visioned. (I suppose he
might be able to lie to himself as well.)

It
is important to take other people’s advice, but trust your own instincts as
well. It is not better to just do what someone else tells you, and it is not a
good thing to ignore all outside help.

6.
Depth versus Superficial.

The
number one autobiographical advice I give people is to not ignore the
superficial aspects of a story. Yes, we don’t want to just be another love
story that ends happily ever after with the main characters running off
together into the moonlight. However, after we massacre them, dragging their innards
across the battlefield, the book may be less typical, but it also less
enjoyable.

This
is an extreme example, of course, and what I’m really referencing is more about
little things, such as having a love story mingled in, paying off the reader’s
desire for vengeance, and giving the reader to want something.

When
I say superficial aspects, I mean anything that would be the center plot in
something on the New York Times Best Sellers list. A guilty pleasure plot, if
you will.

Why
it is important:

I
remember when I was younger thinking that putting in these “superficial”
elements was a form of selling out. I didn’t actually use that term, that would
make me judgmental or something. But I did believe that trying to pander to
what the audience clearly wants (the characters ending up together, for
example) was shallow.

However,
if I really was trying to write an intellectual book for other reasons than
just to look smart (which I swear I was), then there is no reason not to add in
a couple of theme unoriented romances and fights.

A
book without a few “get ‘em reading” qualities is boring, and usually
dishonest. I don’t read A Clockwork Orange,
I read Howl’s Moving Castle. I like
romance and silly things that I’d be embarrassed to admit, and by not embracing
that, I’m screwing myself because I simply want to look good.

This
is a balance list, which means, balance. Writing a guilty pleasure novel just
because that’s what you like to read is not necessarily the way to go (unless
that’s what you want to do.) It’s about including the guilty pleasure elements
inside the intellectual plot that makes a great story.

Twilight sold for a
reason.

7.
Morality versus Goals.

It
is customary to believe that to go against morals for the sake of achieving something
is “bad.” The problem with that theory is that few of us believe in our morals
100%, or care about them that much, really.

When
I say morals, the first thing that comes to my mind is “don’t murder” and “don’t
have sex before marriage,” but ideals can go beyond that. They can be very
simple, very tiny, very subtle, and are filed under the word “opinions.”

Here
are a few of my opinions (for fear of humanizing myself): Animal abuse is wrong.
College needs to be completely revamped. Fart jokes are stupid. I hate one word
titles. I’m not a fan of ebooks.

The
first on is a moral stance of mine. The rest are opinions. Would I fight with a
cowriter over a fart joke? Yes. Would I fight with an editor? Maybe. Would I
allow my book to be sold under a one word title? Not if I could help it. If it
was the difference between being published or chucked in a slush pile? Hell
yes.

Why
it is important:

We
can’t fight every battle. Being argumentative over unimportant things gives a
reputation of being hard to work with. Opinions and morals are hard to sort through,
and often times, we aren’t really sure how much we care. We might very well
just be arguing over a change because we’re defensive.

Just
as criticism, it is important to stand for our morals even when that may mean
being rejected. But it is just as equally important to not botch your chances.
In order to be successful, we must make a few sacrifices, and it is up to the
author to balance integrity with triumph.

8.
Number of Readers versus Dedication.

Having
a fan base is like juggling; we can have a lot of readers we hold loosely or
grip a few tightly.

Subject
matter is the number one thing to cut down on audiences.

Broad
subjects are things like settings in modern day America, action movies, romance
movies, realistic plots, etc. The vaguer in the details, the broader an
audience.

Of
course, any choice removes some potential fans. Most men won’t see romance,
many women won’t see action, I won’t see anything set in modern day (almost.) These
subjects, however, will not deride the most number of people, i.e. they are the
common denominator. The problem is that no one cares very much because they can
see this anywhere.

The
more decisive decisions an author makes, the more a person wants to see it, but
the less people want to.

Take
for instance if I were to make take a typical romance script set in modern day
with pretty generic characters. It is the sort of movie I might see if nothing
better was on. Now let’s say we make one decisive decision and make those
generic characters two gay men (or women.) We’ve cut a good chunk of the people
who might have seen it, but now many people are coming there to specifically
see that movie.

Why
it is important:

Every
decision made affects the number of people who will see it and the number of
people will love it. Cult classics are created from this.

I
make a romance movie, I cut out 50% of my population, and there is nothing to
stop the other 50% from seeing any other romance movie.

I
make it a supernatural romance movie, I cut out all those people who are not
into supernatural, but I convince those left to come see mine over the others.

I
make it a comedic supernatural romance movie, I remove everyone into dramas,
but it convinces people who like humor to see mine over Twilight.

Balancing
these two affects income, fan-base, and duration of loyalty. If I am extremely generic,
I appeal to everyone, but no one cares enough to buy. If I am extremely weird,
I appeal to one person and only made eight bucks.

9.
Good Criticism versus Bad Criticism.

When
someone actually reads your work, there is rarely enough time to really talk
about it as much as you’d like. In certain cases, the feedback is regulated in that
a person can only say specific things at a specific times. What it means
though, is that the author will often try to get the bad things out as quickly
he can, skipping over the question, “What was your favorite part?”

Why
it is important:

Most
people try to give positive feedback. This is not about the critic’s doing, but
the author’s.

If
we don’t receive reward for our work, we will stop doing it. It is a natural
human reflex since birth. Some see reward as the accomplishment of finishing
and need nothing more. Some can just be proud of themselves, but most of us
require some praise.

Balance
out the negative feedback, and tell them what you need. I always say to someone
reading my work, “Be nice, but thorough.” Too much positive feedback will
either be taken insincerely or give a big head. Too much negativity will only
lead to surrender.

It
is up to the author to find people who will adequately balance these elements.

10.
Time Experiencing versus Time Writing.

I
always hated this saying, mostly because I feel attacked by those who choose to
say it, but being able to write requires a lot of attention to life.

We
need to experience things to relate to the people who spend all their time
experiencing things. Writing occupies a lot of energy, and often we feel guilty
when we go out to the movies, go on vacation, read a book, etc. but all of them
can help make a book a better work.

My
favorite piece of advice is from the author of Jig the Dragon Slayer, in which he talked about how he wrote a book
about a hospital, but until he actually spent some time in one, he had no idea
why it was getting rejected.

Why
it’s important.

Life,
people, books, movies, and other media are things to study. If we never visit
them, we forget what we’re doing; however, if we also spend too much time
dinking around, we never write the book at all.

Balancing
life with the chore of creating art is a hard thing to do because one tends to
absorb the other. They are like siblings and are constantly at battle. I am
either engrossed in my work, or I am engrossed in what I’m doing, and it is
hard to break free from one to do the other.

I’ve
written 10 pages today, and that only makes me want to continue when I could
just as easily be downstairs talking to my veteran father about the time he
road across country on his motorcycle.